DO HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES MATTER IN REDUCING CYBERLOAFING AT WORK: EVIDENCE FROM JORDAN

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1 DO HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES MATTER IN REDUCING CYBERLOAFING AT WORK: EVIDENCE FROM JORDAN Ahmad Said Ibrahim Al-Shuaibi, PhD Othman Yeop Abdullah Graduate School of Business, Universiti Utara Malaysia Faridahwati Mohd. Shamsudin, Assistant Professor, Department of Management, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman Chandrakantan Subramaniam, Associate Professor and Deputy Director Cooperative and Entrepreneurship Development Institute (CEDI), Universiti Utara Malaysia ABSTRACT Misusing the Internet at work for non-work related purposes or cyberloafing has become a worrisome phenomenon in organizations. As such, ways to address the issue have received increasing attention by researchers and scholars alike. The present study attempts to add to the literature by exploring the role of human resource practices (HRP) in influencing and hence reducing cyberloafing at work. Two-hundred eighty four employees in four different Jordanian universities were selected to respond to a structured questionnaire. Multiple regressions indicated that out of four types of HRP (performance appraisal, compensation practices, employment security, and career advancement) only performance appraisal and career advancement were found to negatively predict cyberloafing. No significant observations were found on the effect of compensation and employment security on cyberloafing. Implications to practice and theory are discussed. Keywords: Cyberloafing, deviant behavior, human resource practices, Jordan 1. INTRODUCTION The Internet is dubbed as one of the most revolutionary innovations in modern times and has considerably transformed people s lives in ways which were unimaginable before. Communications are now made easier and faster. Information search is wider. Tasks and activities are more varied with online shopping, online banking, downloading music and videos etc. can be performed at a click of a mouse. At the workplace, the Internet has facilitated communication both within an organization and with other organizations. It has enabled employees to work faster, smarter, and has increased productivity because of increased accessibility to information (Chen, Chen, & Yang, 2008; Henle & Blanchard, 2008). But despite the so-called benefits, the Internet has also created unintentional and unforeseen problems at the workplace, with cyberloafing being one of them. Cyberloafing is defined as employees non-work related use of company provided and the Internet while working (Henle & Blanchard, 2008). Various types of cyberloafing behaviors can be identified: surfing non-work related sites during working hours such as playing games, performing personal banking online, updating personal blogs/websites during work hours, or frittering away organizational time using (Weatherbee, 2010) for nonwork related reasons. In sum, the Internet has allowed novel ways to misbehave at work and such behaviors are in tandem with the enabling technologies which are changing at a fairly rapid pace such as SMS, twitter, and blogs, to name a few) (Weatherbee, 2010). As employees can spend unproductive time at work using the Internet, cyberloafing has become a worrisome phenomenon in many organizations. In a much earlier survey by the Internet Data Corp in 2008 in the USA reported that up 40% of workplace Internet use was not business related and 60% of all online purchases were made during regular work hours (StaffMonitoring.com, 2013). A study conducted by Lim and Teo (2005) found that among 226 The West East Institute 1

2 working adults who had accesses to the Internet at work, 2.7 hours spent by workers per day surfing non-related work websites. In her study, Lim (2005) reported that 30 to 40 percent of the employees surfing non-work related websites cause companies to lose. Estimates indicate that between 20% and 30% of companies have fired an employee for cyberloafing including accessing pornographic sites, online gambling, and online shopping (Case & Young, 2002; Greenfield & Davis, 2002). Based on a national survey conducted by Vault.com in 2006, an estimated of USD1 billion to USD54 billion in costs are incurred annually (Henle & Blanchard, 2008). This occurs when employees violate software licenses by copying company-owned software or downloading unlicensed materials, such as mp3 files, movies, and other software. When this happens, the employer can be legally responsible for these violations, which can cause a bad and negative publicity of the company. If these statistics are to be reflective of what is happening now at the workplace, organizations will eventually report losses in productivity and performance. Hence, addressing cyberloafing at work is crucial. The phenomenon of cyberloafing has become a major concern of employers, as it represents a very new and ongoing challenge for contemporary scholars and practitioners (Anandarajan, Teo, & Simmers, 2006). Generally most studies that have attempted to explain why cyberloafing happens at work have looked at individual variables such as selfesteem (Lim & Teo, 2006) and locus of control (Blanchard & Henle, 2008; Chak & Leung, 2004) and organizational sanctions (D Arcy, Hovav, & Galetta, 2009; Henle & Blanchard, 2008), organizational justice (de Lara, 2006; Lim, 2002) ), trust (Alder, Noel, & Ambrose, 2006). But limited number of research works have considered organizational variable in explaining cyberloafing. The present study argues that because cyberloafing is a form of production deviance (Robinson & Bennet, 1995), hence exploring the influence of organizational variable is apt. Production deviance is defined as behaviors that violate the organization norms by delineating the quality and quantity of work to be accomplished (Robinson & Bennett, 1995). In other words, cyberloafing is an organizationally focused deviant behavior (Robinson & Bennett, 1995). In the present study, focus was given to the role of human resource practices (HRP) as an organizational variable that is purportedly able to explain why employees cyberloaf at work. Even though HRP has been found to enhance workrelated outcomes such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and organizational citizenship behavior (e.g., Gould-Williams, 2003; Javed, Ahmed, & Khan, 2012; Petrescu & Simmons, 2008; Poon, 2004; Širca, Babnik, & Breznik, 2012; Wright, Gardner, & Moynihan, 2003), do they also matter in reducing cyberloafing? Indeed, review of the literatures indicates that few has considered the role of human resource (HR) practices in this regard even though it is argued that HRP is theoretically able to shape employee attitudes and behaviors at work (Arthur, 1994; Huselid & Becker, 2011). Given the gaps in our theoretical understanding in this matter, the present study explored the effect of HR practices on cyberloafing at the workplace. In particular, four different types of HR practices were considered i.e. compensation, performance appraisal, career advancement, and employment security. By considering the different practices of human resource management, one will be able to ascertain the HR practices that are most significant in influencing employee cyberloafing at work. 2. LITERATURE REVIEW Review of the relevant literatures suggests various terminologies to reflect the same phenomenon of misusing the Internet at work for non-work related purposes. Besides cyberloafing, other terminologies include the following: a. Cyberdeviance An employee s voluntary act regarding the use of the companies Internet access while on the clock, to surf non-work related websites to satisfy personal needs (Lim, 2002). b. Cyberslacking - The usage of and Internet opportunity unrelated to job in office hours for the aims that is supplied to workers (Phillips & Reddie, 2007). c. Cyberslouching Unproductive Internet surfing (Urbaczewski & Jessup, 2002) In addition to the above terminologies, other variants are also employed that share similar theoretical understanding. For instance, Mahatanankoon, Anandarajan, and Igbaria (2004) used the term personal web use (PWU) instead. They defined PWU as an online web behavior of an employee during work hours, utilizing any of the organization s resources to carry out activities that are not included in his current customary job/work requirements. Similarly, Malachowski (2005) defined PWU as any Internet activity carried out during work hours that is not work related. They listed the following activities as PWU: accessing of sports information, news, , gambling or banking websites, and downloading of videos and music. Yet, other notions have been used. Ozler and Polat (2012) mentioned several other terminologies in their review which include on-line loafing, Internet deviance, problematic Internet use, Internet misuse, and Internet abuse. Despite the variety of terminologies that exist, scholars tend to The West East Institute 2

3 agree that they all describe unproductive use of the Internet at work (Ugrin, Pearson, & Odom, 2008) that wastes time (Martin et al., 2010), and that makes employees procrastinate (Martin et al., 2010). As the Internet makes it possible for the employees to disguise themselves as being actually working, for this reason, sometimes this phenomenon is called goldbricking (James, 2010). Human resource management is generally a system of managing people in an organization that entails interrelated activities beginning from before an employee is even hired until he/she has discontinued employment. Even after the discontinuation of employment, the organization has a moral and social obligation toward its employees. For instance, in cases where the organization has to displace a number of employees due to organizational restructuring exercise, it has an obligation to pay severance pay and find those displaced alternative employment, and in some countries such as Malaysia such obligation becomes a legal one in which employers have to mandatorily comply with the legal provision. In this context, HRM in essence involved several distinct but interrelated activities, and these activities that need to be managed as a system in order for organization to accomplish their goals and objectives (Wright & Kehoe, 2007). These interrelated activities are referred to by Dyer and Reeves (1995) as HR practice bundles. According to some authors, HR practice bundles tend to yield sustainable performance outcomes than are individual practices. For example, Dyer and Reeves (1995) suggested that performance is likely to be maximized when several reinforcing practices such as rigorous selection mechanisms and monetary and non-monetary rewards increase employee motivation and competencies. According to Wright and Kehoe (2007), different HR practices are meant to achieve different purposes. While some HR practices are meant to develop employee skills and competencies, others are meant to motivate employees to perform (i.e. elicit positive behavior and discourage negative behavior). Some scholars noted that incentive compensation, performance appraisal, and internal promotion policies are thought to offer incentives to aid motivation (Delery & Shaw, 2001; Huselid & Becker, 2011). Furthermore, employment security, flexible work schedules, and procedures for airing grievances can also increase motivation by increasing employee commitment (Youndt, Snell, Dean, & Lepak, 1996). Hence, in the present study, four different HR practices were considered: performance appraisal, compensation, career advancement, and employment security. While there is a general consensus that a good HR system is important as it leads to positive work-related outcomes such as employee performance, organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and organizational citizenship behavior (e.g., Gould-Williams, 2003; Javed, Ahmed, & Khan, 2012; Petrescu & Simmons, 2008; Poon, 2004; Širca, Babnik, & Breznik, 2012; Wright, Gardner, & Moynihan, 2003), studies that looked into the consequence of specific HR practices on cyberloafing are few and far between. Nonetheless, theoretical link between HRP and cyberdeviance can be proposed by drawing from the workplace deviance literature even though studies of this sort are scanty. One of the researchers that looked into the link between HR system and deviant behavior at work was Arthur (2011). His study involved 300 U.S. work establishments. His study expanded the scope of strategic HR research over the current focus on firm-level financial and operational performance to encompass HR system choices impact upon interpersonal deviance outcomes. In particular, he investigated to what extent HR systems, characterized by their intensive use of internal labor markets and team autonomy, are linked with lower instances of interpersonal deviance behaviors. Internal labor market of an organization was defined as encompassing long-term employment, internal development and promotion. He found empirical support that organizations that practiced internal labor market system tended to have lower interpersonal deviance. This is because HR practices that value long-term employment, internal development, and promotion tend to develop employees whose values are congruent with the organization s culture and norms, and who are hence less likely to engage in deviant behavior. On the Malaysian front, Shamsudin, Subramaniam, and Ibrahim (2011) investigated the link of HR practices with workplace deviant behavior amongst 372 manufacturing employees in the northern region of Malaysia. Based on factor analysis, four distinct dimensions of HR practices were produced i.e. job description, employment security, internal career opportunities, and resultoriented appraisal. Using regression analysis, they found that almost all HR practices were significantly and negatively linked with deviant work behavior but appraisal. Invoking social exchange theory, they argued that when employees perceive poor treatment from the organization, they tend to reciprocate negatively i.e. by being deviant. In addition to these studies, researchers have also considered investigating the impact of HR practices on specific deviant behavior of employees such as absenteeism and turnover. The evidence generally seems to indicate that HR practices can help organizations reduce employee absenteeism and turnover. For instance, Allen, Shore, and Griffeth (2003) investigated the impact of HR practices of participation in decision making, fairness of rewards, and growth The West East Institute 3

4 opportunities on turnover intention and turnover, through the mediating links of perceived organizational support, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. The study involved two samples of 215 department store salespeople and 197 insurance agents in the US. The use of mediators in the study was based on the previous findings that the relatively small degree of effects of HR practices on turnover suggests that the HR practices might be somewhat dismal determinants of turnover (p. 102). Using social exchange theory as their underlying paradigm, they found that HR practices perceived to be supportive could reduce turnover intention and turnover because such practices signal that the organization recognizes and values the employee s contributions. Such feeling then creates feelings of obligation to support organizational goals, which means that the employee is expected to be committed and motivated at work and to not leave the organization. Similar finding was also reported by Pizam and Thornburg (2000), who conducted a pilot study among 62 hotel managers in Central Florida. They found that the work environment such as adequacy of training and level of compensation were more important in contributing to absenteeism and voluntary turnover than employees personal characteristics. The preceding evidence seems to suggest that HR practices seem to reduce the tendency of employees to engage in negative work behaviors. The significance of a system of HR practices in enhancing organizational performance and organizational effectiveness and reducing negative work outcomes is by creating conditions where employees become highly involved in the organization and work hard to accomplish the organization s goals (Arthur, 1994). Such argument resonates well with social exchange theory in that providing desirable HR practices (i.e. selection, training, career planning, compensation, performance appraisal, job definition, and employee participation) will lead employees to reciprocate the obligation by being committed to their work and hence to their organization. According to stimulus-response theory, work environment that is not conducive acts as a stimuli that triggers individuals to cognitively assess the situation and respond accordingly (Homans, 1964). Psychological climate theory also asserts that individuals interpret and assess the work climate around them whether it is good or bad (James et al., 1978; Koys & DeCotiis, 1991; Schneider, 1975). The perception that follows the assessment affects their behavioral response (Lee & Wu, 2011). Since the theoretical arguments and the existing evidence generally indicate the negative influence of HR system on deviant behavior, it is expected that each specific practice of HR is likely to reduce cyberloafing at work, as HR system is made up of interrelated practices and activities. Hence the following research hypotheses are offered: H1: When performance appraisal is perceived favorably by employees, they are less likely to engage in cyberloafing while at work. H2: When compensation practice is perceived favorably by employees, they are less likely to engage in cyberloafing while at work. H3: When employment security is perceived favorably by employees, they are less likely to engage in cyberloafing while at work. H4: When career advancement is perceived favorably by employees, they are less likely to engage in cyberloafing while at work. 3. METHOD 3.1 Sampling Data were collected from 284 administrative staff members in four different universities (both public and private) in Amman, Jordan, after approval to conduct the survey was granted by the respective university administration. Cluster sampling was used to identify the number of universities (and hence the participants) that need to be included in the sample. Out of 284 questionnaires sent personally by hand to the participants in different departments and sections of the university, only 273 cases were usable for final data analysis. The omission of data was mainly due to excessive missing data in the -questionnaire. The participants were informed that the objective of the study was to examine work-related issues at the workplace and that their individual responses would be kept confidential. Surveys were distributed on-site with the participants, who took on the average between minutes to complete the survey. The 273 participants (140 males and 133 females) had a mean age of 32.7 years, and on average had worked with the university close to 6 years (SD = 2.58). As expected, the majority of the participants were Arab (98.2%). Very few of them were of non-arab nationality, possibly of Turk and Turkish descent, who can speak the Arabic language The West East Institute 4

5 fluently. The participants were either mainly married (54.2%) or single (44%), while a small percentage were divorced. Most of the participants had attained on average undergraduate level of education. The average monthly salary was JD450. They were also asked whether their job requires them to use the computer and the majority affirmed such usage. On average, the computer usage was 5.6 hours per day. 3.2 Measures Cyberloafing. To measure cyberloafing, Lim and Teo s (2005) instrument was used. The instrument contained two categories: browsing activity and ing activity. Browsing activity refers to using company s Internet access to browse non-work related websites while at work, and ing activities refer to sending, receiving and checking non-work related s while at work. These two categories had 11 items. Participants were asked to read the possible activities that people could carry out when using the Internet at work as listed. They were then asked to indicate as honestly as possible whether they knew any of their workmates who had frequently engaged in activities such as using the Internet to surf non-job related websites and sending non-work related s, ranging from 1 Constantly to 5 Never during working hours. The use of this instrument was deemed to be appropriate as it was reported to have psychometric properties of.85 for the browsing activities and.90 for the ing activities (Lim, 2002; Lim & Teo, 2005). Human resource practices. Employees perceptions of performance appraisal, employment security, compensation, and career advancement were used to operationalize human resource practices. These specific and distinct dimensions were particularly chosen because they were deemed to be relevant in explaining deviant behavior in general (e.g., Jawahar & Hemmasi, 2006; Poon, 2004; Schnake, Williams, & Fredenberger, 2007; Zhao & Zhou, 2008). The items to measure the specific practices were adapted from two studies of Delery and Dotty (1992), and Snell and Dean (1992). The use of the instruments from these studies was based on their wide application in various studies earlier (Ahmad & Schroeder, 2003; Chi, Huang, & Lin, 2009; Hsu, Lin, Lawler, & Se-Hwa, 2007). All items were measured to on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 Strongly agree to 5 Strongly disagree. A total of six items were used to measure performance appraisal. Some examples of the items asked were, This university provides a great deal of effort in measuring employee performance, and This university uses flexible performance standards. The items were adapted from Snell and Dean (1992). Three items were used to measure compensation practices. Some examples of the items asked were, This university provides higher pay rates when compared to other organizations within the same industry, and This university very closely links pay with individual performance. The items were adopted from Snell and Dean (1992). A total of three items were asked to measure career advancement. Some examples of the items asked were, Individuals in this job have clear career path within this university, and Individuals in this job have very little future within this university. The items were adopted from Delery and Doty (1996). A total of four items were used to measure employment security. Some examples of the items asked were, Employees in this job can expect to stay in this university for as long as they wish, and It is very difficult to dismiss an employee in this job. The items were adopted from (Delery & Doty, 1996). 4. RESULTS Data were analyzed using SPSS Version 19 Software. Data were first checked for descriptive statistics such as frequency analysis to detect missing values and outliers before they were subject to further tests. Factor analysis was run on the main constructs: cyberloafing and the four HR practices. Based on factor analysis, cyberloafing was found to be unidimensional, contrary to the original theoretical exposition. Each HR practice was also found to be unidimensional. Next, reliability, correlation, and multiple regression analyses were run. Table 1: Mean, Intercorrelations and Reliability Coefficients of Main Variables PA CP ES CA CD Mean α PA The West East Institute 5

6 CP.850** ES.715**.752** CA.841**.796**.746** CLF -.767** -.677** -.621** -.735** Note. ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). PA = Performance appraisal; CP = Compensation practice; ES = Employment security; CA = Career advancement; CLF = Cyberloafing Table 1 shows the mean, intercorrelations and reliability coefficients of the main variables. As indicated, the instruments that measured the main variables were deemed to be reliable, as the alpha coefficients were all beyond the acceptable level of.60 (Nunnally, 1978). The correlations between HRP and cyberloafing showed expected result i.e. all correlations were negative and significant. To test the influencing effect of HRP on cyberloafing, multiple regression analysis was run. Prior to performing this test, assumptions of regression were tested. These assumptions include normality, linearity of the relationship, independence of error term, and homoscedasticity (Coakes, Steed, & Dzidic, 2006; Hair et al., 2009). No violations of the assumptions were detected. Table 2 present the result of multiple regression analysis. Result indicated that collectively, HRP explained significantly 61.2% of the variance in cyberloafing. But individually, it was observed that performance appraisal (β = -.506, p < 0.01), and career advancement (β = -.276, p < 0.01) were negatively related to cyberloafing, thus providing support for hypotheses 1 and 4. There was no support, however, for hypotheses 2 and 3 as compensation (β =.029, ns) and employment security (β = -.076, ns) was negatively unrelated to cyberloafing. In fact between career advancement and performance appraisal, the latter was observed to be more influential in predicting cyberloafing than the former. Table 2: Results of Regression Analysis Independent variables Standardized beta Performance appraisal (PA) a -.506** Compensation practice (CP) a.029 Employment security (ES) a Career advancement (CA) a -.276** F value R Adjusted R Note. Dependent variable = Cyberloafing (CLF) * p< 0.05, ** p < DISCUSSION The present study sought to answer the following question: Do human resource practices matter in reducing cyberloafing at work? Based on the empirical evidence observed, it appears that collectively human resource practices of performance appraisal, compensation, employment security, and career advancement are able to reduce significantly the occurrence of cyberloafing at work as these practices have motivational function to encourage employees to engage in positive work behavior and discourage them from demonstrating negative behaviors such as cyberloafing. Collectively speaking, the empirical observation lend support to existing literatures on the negative contribution of HR practices on deviant behavior at work (e.g., Arthur, 2011; Allen, Shore, & Griffeth, 2003; Pizam & Thornburg, 2000; Shamsudin, Subramaniam, & Ibrahim, 2011), suggesting that workplace deviance is a response to unfavorable work environment (de Lara, 2007, 2009; de Lara & Verano-Tacoronte, 2007; Fitzgerald, Drasgow, Hulin, Gelfand, & Magley, 1997; Lim, 2005; Shamsudin, 2004). However, the evidence also indicates that different The West East Institute 6

7 HR practices have different influencing power or effect on cyberloafing. Performance appraisal and career advancement, in particular, were observed to be significant predictors of cyberloafing with the former had a more significant influence on cyberloafing than the latter. According to Shamsudin, Subramaniam, and Ibrahim (2011), appraisal system is one of the most contentious HR practices as it is generally perceived to be unfairly implemented. When raters are perceived to rate and assess the employees unfairly, procedural justice is said to occur. Procedural justice reflects how fairly organizational procedures are designed (de Lara & Verano-Tacoronte, 2007) or how fair the processes are perceived to be used in determining outcome allocation (Lim, 2002). Researchers have generally found that procedural justice is linked with negative work outcomes (e.g., de Lara & Verano-Tacoronte, 2007; Skarlicki & Folger, 1997; Skarlicki, Folger, & Tesluk, 1999) such as cyberloafing (de Lara, 2007, 2009; Lim, 2005). This also could explain the negative relationship found between performance appraisal and cyberloafing at work. Whilst to date no one study has looked into the effect of career advancement and growth on cyberloafing, the result seems to be consistent with previous studies that found that career advancement reduced turnover intention (e.g., Jawahar & Hemmasi, 2006; Schnake, Williams, & Fredenberger, 2007; Zhao & Zhou, 2008). According to Rousseau (2004), an organization has an obligation to meet its psychological contract with its employees and one of the obligations is providing them with opportunities for career growth. According to the theory of met expectations (Porter & Steers, 1973), people's attitudes and behavior is the result of the degree to which the organization meets their expectations. When these expectations are met, employees will respond by contributing more to the organizational goals. Alternatively, when employees feel that the organization fails to carry out its obligation by failing to meet their expectations for career growth, they will respond accordingly i.e. respond negatively and one of the negative behavioral responses is in the form of cyberloafing while at work. The findings of the present study have a number of important implications to practice. Based on the findings, the present study recommends that managers and business practitioners re-visit their current practices of managing their human resources. In particular, specific attention should be given to performance appraisal and career advancement as these practices are likely to reduce the occurrence of cyberloafing. In particular, HR managers need to understand that unfair and subjective performance ratings and lack of career opportunities could elicit undesirable responses from the employees. Hence, implementing an objective and fair assessment of employee performance and offering opportunities for the employees to grow within the organization are crucial to produce the desired behavioral and attitudinal work responses. As the Internet is a revolutionary tool that has transformed people s lives considerably, its novelty offers unlimited research possibilities. Although literatures on Internet use, abuse, and misuse are growing, more research work is certainly needed to help understand various social phenomena and repercussions brought about by the advent of this technology, with cyberdeviance being one of them. The present study has shown that HR practices account for 61.2% in cyberloafing and the remaining 38.8% is unaccounted for. This presents a good opportunity for future researchers to identify other antecedents of cyberloafing. Furthermore, future research should also consider the consequence of cyberloafing as this stream of research is the most lacking at present. Although the findings have shed some light into the role of HR practices in affecting cyberloafing, they have to be interpreted with caution. The issue of generalizability is one limitation that has to be considered. Even though attempts were made to include all participants identified to take part in the survey, many declined from participating either for voluntary reasons or because access to them was not formally granted by the university management. Hence, data collected might not necessarily be able to represent the population of the study and hence the findings might not be able to be generalized across the larger population of administrative staff employees in other universities and other organizations in Jordan as well. Secondly, due to the cross-sectional nature of the study, attributing causality to the findings is problematic. 6. CONCLUSION The present study sought to explore the role of HR practices in reducing cyberloafing, a negative consequence brought by the application of the Internet technology at the workplace. The results found empirical support for the significant influence of collective HR practices on cyberloafing, suggesting that favorable work environment is The West East Institute 7

8 imperative in eliciting positive work behavior and reducing negative work responses such as cyberloafing. The findings of the present study offer some practical insight into the need for organizations to re-visit their HR practices. To conclude, the Internet technology without doubt poses an interesting episode in the lives of human being. As much as it offers limitless opportunities and benefits for mankind, it also poses remarkable challenges especially in the world of employment. The biggest challenge for organizations is how to capitalize on the advantages of the Internet without succumbing to the dark side it brings. From the theoretical point of view, the Internet will invite many researchers to embark on scholarly activities toward developing a better understanding of cyberloafing. Brief Biography of Authors Ahmad Al-Shuaibi recently completed his PhD at Othman Yeop Abdullah Graduate School of Business, Universiti Utara Malaysia. He is awaiting the graduation ceremony to be held in November He was a graduate teaching assistant at the College of Business, Universiti Utara Malaysia, teaching Marketing Research at the undergraduate level. He holds a BSc. in Marketing from A-Zaytoonah University, Jordan, an MSc. in Human Resource Management from Universiti Utara Malaysia. Before commencing his PhD, he was a sales executive at Gulf Industrial Factory, Jordan. Faridahwati Mohd Shamsudin holds a Bachelor Degree in Business Administration from the International Islamic University of Malaysia; a Master of Science Degree in Human Resource Management from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, and a PhD in Behavior in Organization from Lancaster University. She is now assistant professor at the Department of Management, College of Economics and Political Science at Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat Oman. Chandrakantan Subramaniam received his bachelor and doctoral degree in Human Resource Management from Universiti Utara Malaysia in 2000 and 2009, respectively. In 2002 he received a master s degree of science in Emergency Response and Planning from Universiti Putra Malaysia. He began his career as a tutor in Management School at Universiti Utara Malaysia in He has been with the same university ever since. He is currently an Associate Professor of Human Resource Management and the Deputy Director at Cooperative and Entrepreneurship Development Institute (CEDI) at UUM. References Ahmad, S., & Schroeder, R. G. (2003). The impact of human resource management practices on operational performance: Recognizing country and industry differences. Journal of Operations Management, 21(1), Alder, G. S., Noel, T. W., & Ambrose, M. L. (2006). Clarifying the effects of internet monitoring on job attitudes: The mediating role of employee trust. Journal of Information Management, 43(7), Allen, D. G., Shore, L. M., & Griffeth, R. W. (2003). The role of perceived organizational support and supportive human resource practices in the turnover process. Journal of Management, 29(1), Anandarajan, M., & Simmers, C. A. (2005). Developing human capital through personal web use in the workplace: Mapping employee perceptions. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 15, Arthur, J. B. (1994). Effects of human resource systems on manufacturing performance and turnover. Academy of Management Journal, 37(3), Arthur, J. B. (2011). Do HR system characteristics affect the frequency of interpersonal deviance in organizations? The role of team autonomy and internal labor market practices. Industrial Relations, 50(1), Blanchard, A. L., & Henle, C. A. (2008). Correlates of different forms of cyberloafing: The role of norms and external locus of control. Computers in Human Behavior, 24, Case, C. J., & Young, K. S. (2002). Employee Internet management: Current business practices and outcomes. CyberPsychology and Behavior, 5, Chak, K., & Leung, L. (2004). Shyness and locus of control as predictors of internet addiction and internet use. CyberPsychology and Behavior, 7(5), Chen, J. V., Chen, C. C., & Yang, H-H. (2008). An empirical evaluation of key factors contributing to internet abuse in the workplace. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 108(1), The West East Institute 8

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